Reitz Arena

The last time these two teams met at Loyola's Reitz Arena, nearly 3,000 spectators filled the building and several hundred more were turned away at the door.Those lucky enough to get in saw the annual renewal of one of the area's most intense high school basketball rivalries.With a crowd of that magnitude, one might assume that Dunbar were playing Lake Clifton or Southern.Not even close.It was the Mercy vs. the Institute of Notre Dame girls basketball game that was the hottest ticket in town last January.

For reasons not entirely clear to me, I've been to most of the Loyola basketball home games this season. The crowds understandably grew as the season went on, but that didn't stop me from getting a good vantage point and watching the team grow from last year's below-.500 record to this season's new heights. But for those of you who had better things to do than spend a dozen nights at Reitz Arena this winter, here's a primer of what you need to know about the Greyhounds, and what it will take for them to blow up America's collective bracket Thursday night against Ohio State.

Loyola College defeated Spartak (U.S.S.R), 92-57, in an exhibition at Reitz Arena Saturday night.Senior guard Kevin Green (Dunbar) led the Greyhounds with 22 points and sophomore forward Mike Reese, making his debut with the team, added 15.The Greyhounds begin their season Friday night at the Apple Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., against defending N.I.T. champion Stanford.

Jimmy Patsos prepared his Loyola University basketball team for this year's NCAA tournament long before the Greyhounds earned the school's first automatic bid in 18 years last week. The planning began in December, when Loyola played road games at St. Bonaventure and Kentucky in less than four days. Though the Greyhounds lost both -- by 10 to a Bonnies team that also qualified for this year's tournament by winning the Atlantic 10 and by 24 to the-then No.3 Wildcats, who enter the NCAA tournament as the overall top seed -- Patsos believes the experience his team had on the road in upstate New York and at fabled Rupp Arena will serve the Greyhounds well this week.

Mary Grys scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Canisius past Loyola, 83-75, last night in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference women's game at Reitz Arena.Lynn Albert scored a game-high 31 points for Loyola (3-11, 0-3), which has lost four consecutive games.The Golden Griffins (4-9, 1-1) out-rebounded Loyola 42-35 and forced 27 turnovers.Pub Date: 1/18/97

Gymnastics Christmas on the Chesapeake Where -- Baltimore Convention Center When -- Today and tomorrow, 8 a.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m. What for -- Event organizers expect 1,500 participants for the competition sponsored by the Docksiders gymnastics club. Online -- www.docksidersgymnastics.com Running Baltimore Road Runners Club 10K Where -- Old Sparks Bank, Sparks When -- Sunday, 9 a.m. What for -- Race for runners 40 and older. Online -- www.brrc.com College Basketball St. Peter's@Loyola Where -- Reitz Arena When -- Tonight, 7 What for -- Slightly less scoring than last year, when the Peacocks' Keydren Clark and the Greyhounds' Andre Collins were among the nation's leaders in points per game.

1 Money, honey: Baseball free agency begins today, so call the Orioles and tell them you can swing by the warehouse after stopping at the ATM. 2 Fear what?: Maryland opens its men's basketball season at home against Bucknell (8 p.m.) - located in the same town as a federal prison known for housing white-collar criminals. Perhaps that information is helpful. 3 Mount up: Local rivals Mount St. Mary's and Loyola meet in basketball at 7 p.m. at Reitz Arena. And, unlike the Terps, they're on television (MASN)

Freshman Robert Olson and sophomore J'hared Hall both set career highs in points and 3-pointers as the Loyola men's basketball team beat Marist, 68-61, Friday at Reitz Arena. Olson had 20 points (four 3s), while Hall had 16 points (five 3s). The Greyhounds (9-8, 2-5 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) made a season-high 13 3s. Sam Prescott had 21 points for the Red Foxes (1-16, 1-6). Women Loyola 74, Manhattan 57: : Miriam McKenzie (Oakland Mills) had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and the host Greyhounds (9-7, 4-1 MAAC)

Emil G. "Lefty" Reitz, who guided the Loyola College athletic department for 35 years, died yesterday at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium. He was 82.During his tenure from 1938 through 1973, he increased the number of intercollegiate sports from four to 11 and presided over some of the school's most successful teams.As basketball coach for 23 years, he had a 349-228 record. He had a 290-245-2 record in 32 years as baseball coach and also coached lacrosse, cross country and soccer. Reitz Arena is named after him.He is survived by his wife, Margaret Biggins Reitz; three daughters, Emily Reitz-Pelayo, Margaret Ann Reitz and Mary "Honey" Merriken; and seven grandchildren.

Road show release party The lowdown -- The Swing States Road Show, a politically active group composed of several WAMMIE Award-winning instrumentalists, will play the Cat's Eye Pub in Fells Point on Tuesday. The concert will celebrate the release of the group's latest album, Housecleaning. If you go -- The pub is at 1730 Thames St. The music starts at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. Admission is free for the 21-and-over show. For more information, call 410-276-9866 or visit catseyepub.com. ST. PATRICK'S BENEFIT AT LOYOLA The lowdown -- Bring in St. Patty's Day with a bang.

Like a lot of other coaches, Jimmy Patsos is big on inspirational sayings. On Sunday, he needed one in the worst way. Not a "Braveheart" quote, exactly. Not something to make a man want to take a spear in the throat for his homeland. More like something to make a 20-year-old with a short attention span focus, or something to help a college basketball player suck it up and not dwell on the past. The Loyola men's basketball team, after all, was on a two-game losing streak. Sure, the Greyhounds' goal of winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and going to the NCAA tournament was still in sight.

The Loyola men's basketball team has played some great games as they've risen to the top of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference standings. Sunday's game at Reitz Arena will not be regarded as one of them. Down by just four at the half, the Greyhounds (19-6, 12-3) were out-rebounded, out-hustled and out-everything-elsed in a MAAC loss to Fairfield (15-10, 10-4) 68-51. Erik Etherly and Robert Olson lead the Greyhounds with 17 points apiece. Rakim Sanders led a very balanced Fairfield team with 13 points.

The past and future for Shane Walker are back home in England. He left there in 2005 to pursue a basketball career in the United States that included playing for two high schools in three years and a college career that began at the University of Maryland and will end next month at Loyola. He will return to London this spring with hopes of playing for the host country in the Olympics this summer. It is the present that consumes Walker, a 6-foot-10, 222-pound forward who is the only senior who starts and plays regularly for the Greyhounds (18-5, 11-2 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)

Loyola scored 18 unanswered points against Rider in the first half, leading to the Greyhounds' fifth consecutive win Friday night in front of a sold-out Reitz Arena crowd, 63-46. Forward Erik Etherly led the Greyhounds (17-5, 10-2 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) with 15 points, Robert Olson had 14 and Dylon Cormier (Cardinal Gibbons) added 12. Shane Walker had a season-high 12rebounds plus seven points. Rider's 46 points were the fewest allowed by Loyola since it defeated Niagara in February 1992.

Robert Olson scored five points during a 9-0 Loyola run midway through the second half and the host Greyhounds defeated Marist, 76-63, in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener for both teams Thursday night at Reitz Arena. Loyola (5-1 overall, 1-0 MAAC) ended a five-game losing streak in MAAC openers and improved to 5-1 for the first time since the 2005-06 season, which was also the last time the Greyhounds won their first conference game of the year. After Loyola took the lead with the 9-0 run, Marist twice trimmed the Greyhounds' advantage to four, the final time coming on a 3-pointer by Manny Thomas from the right corner at 6:03.

There are no lines of distinction on the Loyola women's basketball team — not between senior and freshman, nor between starter and substitute. On coach Joe Logan's sixth Loyola team, the lines of seniority and privilege blur in sweet harmony. That's a telling reason why the Greyhounds have won 21 games — matching the school record — and notched the first postseason victory in Loyola history. It's also the reason Loyola (21-12) gets a second-round game in the Women's National Invitation Tournament in Reitz Arena at 4 p.m. Sunday against Virginia (17-15)

Kevin Green (Dunbar) scored 22 points to lead Loyola to a 92-57 victory over Spartak of St. Petersburg, Soviet Union, in an exhibition game at Loyola's Reitz Arena on Saturday night.Green, a senior guard, made four of five shots from three-point range in 24 minutes. Michael Reese, a sophomore transfer from Boston College, added 15 points for the Greyhounds.Loyola will open its regular season Friday against Stanford in the Apple Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. The Greyhounds also will play at Loyola Marymount before returning to Reitz Arena on Dec. 3 for its home opener against Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opponent Manhattan.

Loyola (2-2) at Towson State (2-5)Site: Towson CenterTime: 7: 30Radio: WWLG (1360 AM)Outlook: Loyola will try again for its 1,000th victory in the program's 85-year history. The Greyhounds were denied the milestone Saturday by losing at home to Mount St. Mary's, 74-60. The Tigers are tired, ailing and slumping. They've lost four in a row, squandering a nine-point lead in the final five minutes in a 77-74 home loss Sunday to then-winless Northeastern. Loyola leads the series 27-22, but Towson State has won 10 of the past 13. Eleven of the past 13 games have been decided by 10 points or less.

A wild finish saw Loyola nearly pull out a win against Niagara on Friday at Reitz Arena, but the Greyhounds missed a layup in the final seconds and Niagara won, 59-57. Loyola falls to 12-12 overall and 8-6 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play, while Niagara improves to 6-20 and 3-11 in the MAAC. The Greyhounds led  by one point with 43 seconds remaining, but a layup by Anthony Nelson (20 points) gave Niagara the lead with 15 seconds to go. The back-and-forth game featured 13 lead changes and five ties.

There came a point late in the first half Tuesday at Reitz Arena when upset-minded Loyola learned the undeniable truth about No. 22 Maryland. Despite starting three freshmen, these Terrapins are for real. Trailing by as many as five early, Maryland took advantage of its pronounced size advantage to score 30 of the next 34 points, dominating Loyola in the paint before staving off the Greyhounds' second-half rally in a 79-61 win. Led by 6-foot-4 center Lynetta Kizer, who scored a season-high 21 points on 9-for-10 shooting, Maryland (8-1)